Used and Abused: A Friend in Need
by Samtastic 3.0
Summary: Based on JFMstudios pic "Use and Abused". After Leni is used to make another girl jealous, she is depressed, and her best friend Sammy decides to strike back. In the process, Sammy is forced to come to terms with his feelings for Leni. Cover made by JFMstudios.


**I got this story idea from JFMstudio's pic "Used and Abused". It's one of a series of the Loud siblings getting into unfortunate, heart-wrenching situations. In Leni's, a guy uses her to make another girl jealous, and they both taunt her when she can't understand what he did. Like others, I knew I couldn't stand by as the sweetest Loud sister was used like this.**

 **Enjoy :)**

* * *

Samuel, better known by many as Sammy, sighed as his mother dropped him off. He really didn't wanna start school, but he knew he had no choice. It was mandatory law that you start school when you turned 5.

So, not being able to do anything about it, he said goodbye to his mother and started walking towards the front doors. He noticed other kids and their parents walking inside as well. The only reason he was alone was because his mother worked full time, and had to head straight to her job after dropping him off.

Sammy's mother had actually just gotten a new job, and it came with a transfer. Thus, over the summer they had moved to this small town, Royal Woods, Michigan. While this meant a fresh start for the two of them, it also meant he had to leave behind his friends, meaning he didn't know anyone.

After following the crowd to the front office, Sammy was told where the kindergarten room was located. Once he got there, he saw a bunch of other kids standing around, just talking to one another, while a small group of parents was talking to the teacher.

Not knowing where else to go, Sammy just decided to take a seat. He saw that the desks, which were big enough for two people apiece, had names on them, meaning assigned seating. He also noticed they were apparently in alphabetical order, from front to back.

Following the alphabet, Sammy found his desk in the middle of the room. He quietly sat down and set his book bag under the table, hoping not to draw any attention to himself.

After a moment had passed, he curiously looked at the seat to his left. It was apparently going to be taken by someone named Leni Loud, according to the card on that half of the desk.

"But, Lori!" a voice suddenly whined, "I don't want you to leave! I need you!"

"You'll be fine, Leni," another voice argued, "Besides, I have to go across the hall to the 1st grade room."

2 girls, both with blonde hair, walked up the aisle in between the two columns of desks, looking at the cards on each desk.

Finally, they stopped at Sammy's desk. The girl who appeared to be older was looking him over. Sammy though both girls were pretty, while he wasn't much; he was scrawny with scruffy brown hair and big square reading glasses.

"Well, Leni, this is it," the girl, Lori, gestured to the empty seat, "I gotta go."

"But Lori, you can't go!" Leni whined, "We're supposed to sit together and be best friends."

"We _are_ best friends," Lori rolled her eyes, "But I can't stay, you know that. But hey, it looks like you'll have…" Lori leaned over and read Sammy's card, "Samuel Linton here to help you out."

Leni nervously looked away when Sammy looked at her. Lori took this moment to lean over and grab Sammy by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close to her as she growled, "Listen up and listen good! My sister's not that bright, and from what I remember from last year, as her desk buddy it's your job to help her. Got it?" She glared at him as Sammy, unable to form any words, fearfully nodded his head. "Good," she released him and hugged her sister, reassuring her again before heading out of the room.

Leni nervously stood at the side of the desk, avoiding eye contact with Sammy as she gripped the straps of her backpack.

Realizing how scared the girl appeared to be, and thinking about his forced promise to her sister, Sammy stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Sammy."

Leni aid nothing as she stared at the hand. Finally, after a minute she shook it and replied, "Hi, I'm Leni." She then took her seat.

"Well, Leni," Sammy said, trying to think of something to say, "I…uh…I guess we're desk buddies for the year, huh?"

"Yeah," Leni said, "My sister told me about the desk buddy thing. She had to share her desk with some annoying girl named Carol Pingrey. Every day after school she complained about how Carol always seemed to be better than her and liked to rub it in her face."

"That's not very nice," Sammy frowned. He remember one of the kids in his daycare was a "prodigy" which meant they were really smart. The kid always bragged about how his finger paints looked like they were made by an adult, especially compared to Sammy's.

Sammy couldn't draw, but he had a great imagination. Once he learned how to write, he was gonna start writing all his story ideas down.

Deciding this could be a good conversation starter, he told this to Leni, who replied that she was into fashion. This started a conversation between the two about how art and fashion are somewhat one and the same. During this conversation, Sammy noted that Lori was right when she told him that Leni was a bit dim. However, he also noted that she was one of the nicest people she had ever met.

They talked about random things for the next 10 minutes, until the teacher quieted everyone down because it was time to start class.

* * *

Throughout the rest of the year, Sammy often helped Leni with her general school work, while she in turn helped him in art class. They became great friends, so much so that their mothers arranged a play date around Thanksgiving.

Upon arriving at the Loud house, Sammy was introduced to Leni's 3 younger sisters, Luna, Luan, and Lynn, their father, and their pregnant mother. Needless to say, he was quite surprised by the fact that they had 5 kids and were expecting another.

Throughout the day, the younger sisters clung to him, treating him like they would a big brother. Luna kept asking him to hear her sing, Luan kept telling jokes, and Lynn kept tackling him (which surprisingly hurt, despite the fact that she wasn't even two yet).

While watching Sammy play with her younger sisters, Leni commented to Lori how happy she was that her sisters liked her new best friend. Hearing this made Lori want to cry; _she_ was supposed to be her younger sister's best friend. Instead of crying, she glared at Sammy. She glared at him from a distance for the whole rest of the day.

* * *

Over the years, the two remained best friends, even in middle school when Leni started to become more popular than Sammy.

Sammy was on good terms with Leni's parents, as well as all the Loud siblings, save for Lori. He had picked up pretty quickly that she didn't like him, yet he had no idea why. Since she glared at him any time she saw him, Sammy was too scared of her to question her dislike of him.

As could be expected, Sammy developed a crush on his best friend when they got into middle school. However, he was far too nervous to do anything about it. Anytime he tried to tell Leni about his feelings towards her, he turned into a stuttering mess. And of course, Leni was too dim to figure out why he was nervous around her.

Once the two entered high school, Leni got a lot of admirers because of her looks. This made Sammy jealous, but he was too nervous to say anything.

All in all, Sammy just hoped that Leni would choose the right guy to be her boyfriend, because a girl like her deserved only the best.

* * *

It was Sunday, a nice spring day. Sammy was done with the little homework he had over the weekend, and didn't feel like playing video games or watching TV. So, he decided it would be a good day to go for a run in the park. Though he wasn't very athletic, he still did simple workout routines from time to time.

Slipping into clothes more appropriate for running than his usual everyday black jeans and blue dress shirt (his mom liked him to look presentable), he then grabbed a water bottle to keep hydrated and a book ( _The Hunger Games_ , one of his favorites) to read when he was done. He then headed out, locking the door behind him.

As Sammy ran, he let his mind focus on something that had upset him: Leni had finally said yes when some guy asked her out. That some guy happened to be Adam Cutler. Sammy had been worried when Adam asked Leni out. Of course he was also jealous, but he would be fine as long as Leni was happy. The only problem was that Adam just seemed like a shady character. For example, more than once Sammy had caught him smoking in the boys' bathroom (and he had a feeling that they weren't plain cigarettes).

But still, he knew he couldn't let his personal feelings get in the way of his best friend's happiness. So as long as Adam treated Leni well, Sammy had no reason to say anything.

Of course, that didn't mean he couldn't dislike Adam. Hence the reason he glared at the other teen upon spotting him on a park bench just off the trail. However, his glare turned to confusion when he noticed that he was with a girl. Not Leni, but another girl, Rebecca Allister, one of the biggest sluts in school. Despite only being a sophomore, she claimed to have already had sex 3 times, and that one of those times was with the school principal (of course, that last part was just a rumor, though Sammy did have to admit the principal was a bit of a creep).

Sammy was surprised to see the two of them together, seeing as Adam was…dating…Leni…

"Oh hell no," he muttered. He slowed down to a jog as he went by them, and sure enough, what he heard made his blood boil.

"I still can't believe that she was stupid enough to think you actually liked her," Rebecca chuckled.

If Sammy wasn't horribly outmatched (not only 2 against 1, but both of them worked out regularly), he would have stopped to tell them off. But he didn't. He just kept running, speeding up to wear himself out and cool down.

He was wondering if Leni knew that she had clearly been used. He got his answer when he heard sobbing off the trail. He slowly walked towards it, and sure enough, he spotted his best friend sobbing on the ground. The bottom of her dress appeared to be covered in some type of purple substance. As he got closer, he realized what the substance was: his favorite treat, plum pie.

Ignoring the delicious smell, Sammy walked up to Leni and plopped down beside her. She looked up when she heard someone sit beside her, and upon seeing it was Sammy, continued to cry as she threw her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. Neither said anything as Sammy wrapped an arm around her.

While he was keeping a calm demeanor on the outside, on the inside Sammy was furious. Adam had used his best friend to make another girl jealous. He had picked her purely because of her low intelligence, and that made Sammy even madder.

But upon taking a moment to think it over, Sammy realized he was also mad at himself. If he had told Leni how he felt about her, then she wouldn't have said yes to Adam in the first place.

Looking down at his depressed friend, Sammy sadly knew that now was not the time to talk to her about his feelings for her (which sucked, because with his anger he was feeling a little more confident than usual). Instead, he would focus on how to get revenge on Adam and Rebecca.

While he wasn't the bravest or strongest, there was one rule Samuel Linton lived by: You don't mess with the people he cares about!

* * *

After a little bit, Leni finally felt ok enough to get up and go home. Sammy, of course, said he would walk her.

During the walk, the two were quiet. To Sammy's surprise, however, Leni held onto his arm, almost as though she was afraid to let go.

When they got to the Loud household, a few of the siblings were hanging out in the front yard. Lana was playing in the mud, Lynn and Lincoln were tossing a football back and forth, Lori was leaning against Vanzilla texting, likely her boyfriend Bobby, and Luna was banging some drumsticks on the trashcans. They all stopped what they were doing when they saw Sammy and Leni walk up. While most of the siblings smiled upon seeing the two of them, their smiles dropped when they noticed Leni's eyes red from crying and the giant purple stain on her arms, legs, and dress.

Before anyone could say or do anything, Lori rushed forward and threw her arms around her sister, pulling her away from Sammy as she did so. She glared at Sammy, who took a step back.

Seeing that as their cue, the rest of the siblings rushed forward and surrounded their older sister, asking her what happened. Leni tried to tell them, but couldn't get more than 2 words out before she started crying again.

Instantly, everyone turned to look at Sammy for an explanation. Sighing, Sammy revealed what Adam had done to Leni, with her filling in the part about the pie, and needless to say they were all ready to hunt him down and tear him limb from limb.

"Don't!" Leni exclaimed, pushing her older sister away from her, still sniffling as she walked towards the house, "He's not worth it."

The Loud siblings looked on in sadness as the sweetest one of them trudged inside. Not knowing what else to do, the siblings just resumed their normal activities, while Lori went inside to check up on her sister, and maybe help her get cleaned up.

As the Loud siblings got back to what they were doing, Sammy just nodded at them and walked off, heading back home. He had some revenge to plan.

* * *

At dinner, Sammy's mother could tell something was bothering her son. She asked him if everything was ok, to which he replied it wasn't. All he said was that someone had hurt someone he cared about. Knowing how her baby was with those he cared about, she just nodded, saying, "Don't do anything illegal."

Upon finishing his dinner, Sammy headed up to his room, where he spent the rest of the evening pondering how to get revenge on Adam and Rebecca. Well, Rebecca deserved it, too, but he was mainly focusing on how to get back at Adam.

He went through many ideas, some even bordering on criminal, such as driving a car through the wall of Adam's house. But remembering that his mother said not to do anything illegal, he abandoned those ideas. Not because he knew they were wrong, but because he wasn't sure of he would get away with them.

"Ugh!" he tossed the piece of paper and the pen he was writing with aside. There didn't seem to be any good revenge plans he could do on his own (like filling Adam's house with chocolate pudding) and some were just plain illegal (such as sneaking drugs into Adam's locker and "anonymously" snitching on him). It was hopeless!

Deciding to take a little break, he turned on his TV. It wasn't anything special, not like the flat screen in the living room, but it was a decent enough TV for when he just wanted to lay in bed watching whatever.

Upon turning it on, it was, obviously, still on the channel it had been on when he turned it off, TBS.

 _"And don't forget to catch an all new episode of American Dad tomorrow night, here on TBS."_

Sammy simply stared at the TV, and the picture of the Smith family. _American Dad_ was one of his favorite shows. And at that moment, he thought of one of his favorite episodes…

Sammy smiled. He knew how to get his revenge on Adam and Rebecca.

* * *

One week later, Sammy knocked on the door of the Loud House. Lynn answered, smiling upon seeing him.

"Hey, Sammy, what's up?" she asked.

"I'm here to show Leni something. How's she doing?"

Lynn frowned, "Well, she's still upset about the Adam thing, but I think she's finally getting over it. But she still won't let us get revenge on that bastard."

"Doesn't matter," came Lana's voice from behind Sammy, as she entered the house, holding her trusty pipe wrench, "I went to the guy's house to smash up his car, only to see moving vans. Apparently he skipped town or something."

"Actually, that's why I'm here," Sammy said proudly, holding a video camera, "Can you call her down?"

"Sure," Lynn shrugged, running upstairs to get her sister, while Lana followed Sammy into the living room.

Luan and Luna were sitting on the couch, half-watching some news story.

"Ehem," Sammy spoke up, and the two turned to him, smiling as he held up the video camera and asked if he could use the TV for a minute. Happy to oblige, they tossed him the remote.

A couple minutes later, 9 Loud siblings were in front of the TV. A moment later, Lori dragged a still upset looking Leni and set her down on the couch. She looked drained of energy, though she smiled upon seeing Sammy.

"Ok," Sammy began, "Now, what I'm about to show you is a bit…PG-13. And it's not 100% …legal, so to say. However, it's all fake. Leni, you remember what I told you about my uncle?"

"That…um…that he's an actor for his town's theatre?" Leni dully asked.

"Yes," Sammy nodded, "And what is my favorite show?"

" _American Dad_?"

"Yup," Sammy nodded, as he pressed play on the camera.

 _On TV, the camera started spinning around, turning to face a window. In the reflection, it became apparent that the camera was in the cherry on the human-sized display ice cream cone at the local ice cream shop._

 _The outside seating area was surprisingly deserted, save for a couple guys sitting at one table…and Adam and Rebecca at another._

Leni frowned upon seeing the two, and Lori cast a glare at Sammy. For once, however, Sammy didn't flinch under Lori's glare.

 _As Adam and Rebecca talked, a car suddenly rammed through the wall surrounding the seating area. Before anyone could move, a guy, dressed in somewhat stereotypical "gangster" wear, stepped out of the car, holding a shot gun._

 _"Mr. Capelli says hello," he snarled, shooting the two guys, apparently dead._

 _"AAAHHHHH!" Rebecca shrieked in terror, drawing the guy's attention to her and Adam._

 _"No witnesses," he growled, getting his shotgun ready. However, as he shot at them, the ice cream cone was suddenly pushed in front of the two, shattering as it blocked the gun shot._

 _The cherry camera lay on the ground. It caught another man, dressed in a nice suit, grabbing Rebecca and Adam and pulling them away._

"Wait," Leni said, confused, "Wasn't that guy your uncle?" Sammy merely nodded in response.

 _The camera then switched from the cherry to the mirror in a van. Sammy's uncle pushed Rebecca and Adam into the backseat before jumping in the driver's seat and taking off._

 _"I'm so, so sorry, you kids," he exclaimed, sounding downtrodden, "This is all my fault."_

 _"What's all your fault?" Rebecca shrieked, "What the hell just happened?"_

 _"Allow me to introduce myself," Sammy's uncle said, "Agent James Ryan of the CIA. I've been tracking the Capelli family, one of New York's biggest crime families, for the past 6 months. I found out that the head of a rival crime family was scheduling a meeting in this town, so my boss had me fly in, hoping to pick up Derrick "Drawing Board" Barker when he came to take them out."_

 _"Who?" Adam asked, confused._

 _"Derrick "Drawing Board" Barker," Sammy's uncle repeated, "One of the Capelli's top hit men. I was supposed to capture him before he could make the hit, and then bring him back to base for interrogation. However, because of my mission, I was ordered to lay low, and thus checked into a seedy motel. Problem was that it didn't have bath mats in the tubs, and I slipped in the shower last night. Nothing serious, but I bumped my head and blacked out. I woke up about an hour ago, so I had to hurry. I was actually making good time, but I was worried I'd be late, so I ran a light that had just turned red. Some guy clipped me, and I had to take care of that. If I had just waited, I could have been on time and you two wouldn't be in grave danger."_

 _"Why are we in danger?" Adam asked, clearly trying to process everything he had just been told._

 _"That guy's nickname is "Drawing Board" because he has a perfect visual memory AND he's an amazing artist. By now he's probably got perfect sketches of your faces sent to his girlfriend, Melissa "The Computer Queen" Connors, one of the world's best hackers. Within the next 10 minutes, they'll likely know everything about both of you, including where you live. He'll head there immediately to make sure you don't go to the cops."_

 _"Oh god!" Rebecca started crying, "What do we do?" Adam held her close._

 _"We'll have to get you into the CIA Witness Protection Program. It won't be easy due to Connors, but we can make it work," Sammy's uncle replied, "Now, immediate family information." He snapped his fingers, ordering them to tell him quickly._

 _"It's just me and my mom," Rebecca sniffled, "My dad ran out on us when I was three."_

 _"I live with both parents," Adam said, "And I got a dog."_

 _"Ok," Sammy's uncle said, "Girl, I know of an outpost down in Antarctica that is studying penguins. You and your mother can lay low there. Boy, you and your family will go to Taiwan."_

 _"What?" both asked, shocked._

 _"The Capelli's are one of the biggest crime families in New York," Sammy's uncle repeated, "They don't stop until things get done. I'm sorry, but your lives in Royal Woods are over. Girl, you'll be going to a research station of about a dozen people, and boy, your family will go to one of the biggest plum farms in Taiwan."_

The Loud siblings snickered, with Lori remarking, "Serves ya right, douche bag."

 _"Wait!" Adam said, "I'm allergic to plums."_

 _"Kid, if I've learned one thing in this world, it's that ya gotta face your fears, otherwise you'll never get anywhere in life."_

 _"I'm not_ _ **afraid**_ _of plums!" Adam exclaimed, "I'm violently allergic to them. They make me break out in hives and cause my throat to close up."_

 _"Well," Sammy's uncle shrugged, "In the grand scheme of things, aren't allergies just another type of fear?"_

At that, the video ended, and Sammy turned to the Louds.

"That whole thing was taken from my favorite episode of _American Dad_ , where the main character has his son's geeky best friend witness a fake mob hit to send him into hiding and get rid of him."

"So those dudes didn't really die?" Luna asked.

"Nope," Sammy said, "That gun fired giant red paintballs for the first two shots, and then just a sound effect for the third one, while my uncle pressed a button that shattered the giant cone."

"And your uncle and the other guys?" Lana asked.

"My uncle's an actor, and the three other guys are his best friends from the theatre he works at. My uncle's fake name was from James Bond and Jack Ryan, two well known fictional spies."

"What about school and their houses?" Luan asked.

"Their parents were told to call the school and say they had gotten a promotion and would be leaving immediately (also called their jobs and quit) and were told to pack a couple of suitcases with what they needed, and anything that had sentimental value to them. After they were gone, my uncle took everything out of their houses, and took it back to his town," Sammy explained, "There's a homeless shelter right across the street from his theatre, so all food and clothes were donated there, and anything valuable was pawned, with that money also going to the shelter."

"And the car driving through the wall?" Lincoln asked.

"They went to a bar the night before, and just waited for some drunk jack-a** to stumble out to their car with obvious intentions of driving home drunk. They found a guy, who they simply put to sleep with a chokehold, took the car, and waited until the time was right," Sammy said, "They then put the guy in the passenger seat, poured some beer on his face, and then placed him in the driver's seat as they took off."

"So Adam and Rebecca are really gone?" Leni asked, smiling a little.

Sammy nodded, "My uncle's a pickpocket, so while he was explaining the situation to their parents, he covertly stole their credit cards and made the arrangements. So not only are their lives drastically changed, they'll have ridiculous bills in addition."

"And they believed everything?" Lynn asked.

"Yup. My uncle told them to lay low until he comes to get them, which will be never. And he also told them to not have ANY contact with anyone in the USA. So they'll spend the rest of their lives, under fake names, in pretty inconvenient places.

Before anyone could say anything, Leni leapt up and threw her arms around Sammy, wrapping him in a big hug, "You're the bestest best friend EVER, Sammy."

The majority of the Loud siblings agreed, giving Sammy praises, except for Lori, who felt her eye twitch as she watched the two of the hug. AGAIN Leni had called Sammy her best friend! That title was supposed to belong to Lori!

Releasing Sammy from her hug, Leni smiled at her best friend, "Sammy, getting your uncle to pretend to be a government agent to get revenge on two high school kids who did something that's not really worth worrying about in the long run is the sweetest thing you've ever done for me."

"Well, Leni," Sammy blushed, rubbing the back of his neck, "You're my best friend. I couldn't let Adam get away with what he did to you. After all, you're one of the sweetest girls on the planet."

"Aww, thanks," Leni blushed. Suddenly, something happened that didn't happen very often: Leni had an idea, an idea that had absolutely nothing to do with fashion, "Hey, Sammy, remember those movie nights we used to do?"

"Yeah," Sammy nodded, "We haven't done one since we started high school."

"Well, how about we do one, this Saturday? Just the two of us?" Leni asked sweetly. She smiled at him, and Sammy just couldn't resist that smile.

"Sure, Leni, this Saturday sounds good."

Unbeknownst to either of them, the rest of the Loud siblings, sans Lori, noticed how Sammy was acting around Leni, and smirked at each other.

* * *

That Saturday evening, around 8:00, Leni arrived at Sammy's house for the movie night. In addition to her usual dress and flip flops, along with her sunglasses, she was also wearing a jacket, as it was a bit chilly. Upon seeing this jacket, Sammy smiled. It was a leather jacket that had belonged to his father, and his mother gave it to him when he started high school. Last winter, Leni had forgotten her jacket one chilly day, so Sammy had leant her the jacket (it was surprisingly insulated and warm) and he had just never gotten around to asking for it back.

"Hey, Sammy," she said cheerfully, skipping inside. Sammy smiled at her; she seemed to be out of her depressed state, which made him feel great.

"Hey, Leni," Sammy said, closing the door and following her to the living room, "Got the popcorn in the microwave, tons of soda choices in the fridge, and a nice comfy couch to watch our giant flat-screen TV with the best picture and surround-sound." Sammy smiled as he said that last part. He really did love his giant TV, it was just so awesome. It was almost like actually going to the movies.

"Cool," Leni said, taking the jacket off and plopping down on the couch, "So what movie are we gonna watch?"

"I thought I'd let you pick," Sammy said, "This was your idea after all."

"Ok," Leni started to think. What did she wanna watch?

Sammy, seeing her trying to make up her mind, decided to help her out, "Well, for starters, do you wanna watch a good movie, or a bad one we can make fun of?"

"Hmmm…I wanna watch a good one," Leni decided.

"Ok," Sammy said, walking over to the movie shelf right beside the TV. There were well over 200 movies on this shelf, "What type? Drama? Comedy? Horror? Sci-Fi? Action? Fantasy?"

"Um…I wanna watch…an action one!" Leni finally decided. Then, one certain movie clicked in her head, "Do you have that one about that guy who has to save his wife from terrorists on Christmas?"

Sammy smiled as he grabbed his copy of _Die Hard_ and showed it to her, at which she nodded and said that was the one.

Sammy walked over to his Blu-Ray player and put the DVD in, before heading to the kitchen and getting the popcorn and some sodas. Being her best friend, Sammy didn't need to ask what kind of soda Leni wanted, as he already knew. After getting everything he needed, he walked back into the living room with the bowl of popcorn and two root beers.

After skipping the previews, Sammy pressed "play" on the remote, and the movie started.

As the movie began, Leni and Sammy both reached into the popcorn bowl at the same time, causing their hands to touch. Sammy blushed, and surprisingly so did Leni. They both turned away from each other as they refocused their attention on the movie.

'Why am I feeling weird around Sammy?' Leni thought to herself, 'He's my best friend. What does it matter if our hands touch while we're trying to get popcorn?' Confused by this, Leni opened her drink and took a sip from it, deciding to focus her attention on the movie and ignore these weird feelings she was having.

Sammy, meanwhile, was freaking out inside, 'Oh my gosh! What was that? I don't need to be blushing around Leni! I know I like her, but now is NOT the time to try to make my feelings known to her. If something like the hand thing happens again, then it's no biggie! It's just two friends whose hands touch. Nothing more!'

At that, the two friends watched the movie, making sure not to try and reach for popcorn at the same time, to avoid any more awkwardness.

* * *

 **BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Sammy's eyes slowly opened. It took him a moment to register where he was. Looking around, he saw he was in the living room, on the couch. The TV was off, his glasses were on the coffee table next to the now empty popcorn bowl, and a blanket was draped over him.

"Mmmm."

Correction, a blanket was draped over _them_! Looking down, Sammy was surprised to see that Leni was snuggled up on top of him. One of her arms was wrapped behind/under him, and the other lay rested on his chest, right by her sleeping face. In his sleep, he had wrapped one of his arms around her.

 **BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Jerking more awake, Sammy realized someone was banging on his front door. And judging by how dark it was outside, he had a pretty good idea who it was.

Before Sammy could get up, he noticed his mother coming down the stairs in her robe. She walked to the door and turned on the porch light before looking out the peephole. Upon seeing who it was, she opened the door, revealing a frantic looking Mr. and Mrs. Loud.

"Leni," Sammy said, shaking the girl's shoulder, "Ya gotta get up. Your parents are here to take you home."

Leni didn't say or do anything, so Sammy shook her shoulder a little harder and repeated his message. This time, she appeared to wake up.

"Mmm…No!" Leni whined, wrapping both arms around his torso and burying her head deeper into his chest, "Too comfy."

Ms. Linton, having calmed down the frantic Loud parents, walked over to inform Leni that she had to go home. Mr. Loud called for the door for his daughter to come on, and that she should have told them she would be a bit late.

Groaning, Leni forced herself off of her comfy best friend and grabbed her jacket as she stumbled to the front door, apologizing to her parents about missing curfew, "Sorry for worrying you, Mom and Dad, but Sammy and I were watching a movie and we fell asleep."

Mr. Loud looked surprised to hear this, but before he could say anything, Mrs. Loud chimed in, "Why didn't your phone wake you?"

Leni rubbed her neck sheepishly, "I kinda put in on vibrate when the movie started, and I guess it fell out of my pocket when I fell asleep on top of Sammy."

"WHAT?!" Mr. Loud's cry of shock and outrage was so loud (pardon the pun) that it woke the surrounding houses.

Sammy gulped as he walked up to the door and handed Leni her phone, which he had found underneath him when he got up.

"Oh yeah," Leni said, giving her usual bright smile, "Sammy's a REAL comfy pillow." She latched onto his arm, asking, "Can I bring him home with me? PLEEEEASE!?"

Ms. Linton had a bemused smirk on her face at the sight of her son's obvious discomfort. Mrs. Loud also had a smile on her face, glad her daughter was finally over that awful boy Adam. Mr. Loud, however, was furious.

"Oh, I get it!" He exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Sammy, "My daughter gets her heart broken, so you decide to take advantage of that. Inviting her over for a "friendly movie night", only to try to take advantage of her in her upset state of mind. I oughta kick your butt!"

Now, Sammy had known Mr. Loud for over a decade, so he knew the man was about as harmful as a butterfly. However, he could see the look of anger on the man's face, clearly upset at the though of his daughter being "taken advantage of" after her heartbreak.

"It wasn't like that, I swear!" Sammy said, throwing his hands in front of him to shield himself from the older man's potential attack. He quickly took his arm back from Leni and took a couple steps back.

"Look," Mrs. Loud cut in, "I'm just glad Leni's safe. When she didn't come home at 11:00 like she promised, we thought something had happened, like a mugging. When we couldn't reach you," she gestured to Sammy's mother, "We sorta panicked."

"Sorry about that," Ms. Linton nervously rubbed her arm, "But since I'm at work most of the time and because I hate telemarketers, I had the landline disconnected a couple years back, and I need to get a new cell phone since mine broke the other day."

"Right, we understand," Rita said, grabbing both her husband and her daughter and pulling them towards the family van, "Well, we'll see you two later. Have a good evening."

"Bye, Sammy," Leni waved, "Thanks for the fun night and being a great pillow." Sammy blushed again as he waved, though he stopped waving when he again saw Mr. Loud glare at him.

As soon as the van pulled away from the curb, Ms. Linton closed the door, and turned to her son with a sly grin on her face.

Not knowing exactly what to say, Sammy decided to start at the basic, "I assume you put the blanket over us?"

"Of course," his mother said, "When I got home, I found the two of you fast asleep, her on top of you. I even took a couple pictures."

At that, she stepped away and grabbed the camera she kept on top of the fireplace in case she needed to take a "quick pic" as she called them.

Looking at the screen, Sammy was surprised to see that his mother had taken nearly a dozen pictures of him and his best friend/crush sleeping in the couch, her cuddled up to him. It made him blush a bit.

"Well," his mother said, walking over and putting the camera back where she got it, "It's after midnight, so I'm going back to bed. I'd suggest you do the same, kiddo." At that, she turned and headed for the stairs. However, halfway up she turned back to her son and said, "She had her heart broken once. You know what you gotta do to stop it from happening again." Before Sammy could respond to that, she turned and headed back upstairs to her room.

Sammy sighed, embarrassed to know that his mother apparently knew that he was in love with Leni.

Shaking his head, Sammy realized he was still exhausted, and didn't really feel like climbing the stairs to his room. So, instead he made his way back to the couch. He plopped down in it and pulled the blanket over him again, figuring he would think about things tomorrow during his run.

Though as he felt himself once again drift off to sleep, one thing was clear in his mind: his mother was right. How many other guys would want to use Leni for their own selfish reasons? If he told her how he felt about her and they started dating, then he could prevent and incident like Adam from happening again.

"Why's life gotta be so complicated?" he muttered, right before letting sleep overtake him.

* * *

The next morning, Sammy woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. Letting hunger guide him, he headed into the kitchen where his mother was dishing him up a plate. Bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and orange juice, the same thing she made every Sunday, and Sammy loved it.

As the two dug into their meal, Sammy pondered over what to do about Leni. He wasn't sure exactly what the best approach would be at this time. He figured it would be best to avoid her house for the time being, remembering how ticked off Mr. Loud had been the previous night…er, early this morning. Whatever time it had been, he knew that Leni's dad probably wasn't in the mood to see him any time soon.

But how to go about talking to her? Would she be ready for another relationship so soon? Would she even be interested in him as anything more than a friend? Was she being serious when she called him a comfy pillow?

Ugh, so many thoughts. After finishing his breakfast, Sammy told his mother he was going for a run to clear his head.

"Ok, Sweetie, be safe," his mother called after him as he ran down the front walk. He reached the park in under 5 minutes.

As he ran onto the main trail, he let his mind wander to Leni. There was just so much going on with that topic that it hurt his head to think about it. He really wanted to tell Leni how he felt about her, but he was just so worried that it would backfire horribly.

As Sammy ran and thought, he casually looked around. The park was fairly empty, save for a couple random people.

"Wait a minute," he muttered. He turned to a lone tree standing in the middle of the clearing. He shook his head, as he could have SWORN he saw Lucy standing under it. Like all the Loud siblings and many of their friends, Sammy knew about Lucy's apparent ability to "teleport" in order to sneak up on people. But looking at the tree again, Sammy saw no one, so he just assumed it was his eyes playing tricks on him.

"On your left!" a voice called behind him. When you were running, it was common courtesy to call ahead to runners in front of you and let them know you were gonna pass them.

Sammy moved to the right, allowing the runner to pass him. As she did, he raised an eyebrow, "Lynn?"

"Oh yeah!" Sammy was distracted by someone calling out. Looking to his right, he saw someone playing in a mud puddle. However, taking a good look at her, Sammy couldn't help but utter, "Lana?" Next to the mud puddle, Lola was rolling her eyes at her twin sister.

Turning back in front of him, he noticed that Lynn was gone. Turning back to the mud puddle, he noticed it was now empty, and upon closer inspection, there did not appear to be any tracks leading away from it.

"Keep it together, Sammy," he muttered to himself, "Don't start seeing things."

However, upon turning a curve, he swore he saw Luan, dressed as a mime, doing a generic "trapped in a box" routine, while Luna appeared to be playing a simple rift on her guitar. Next to them was Lisa, taking notes of an anthill. On the other side of the trail, Lincoln was apparently watching over Lily, who was playing in a sandbox. Taking a moment to rub his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Sammy gulped upon opening them to see that the five Loud siblings were gone.

Sammy walked up to the area where he had seen them all and looked around. He was now indeed freaking out. Why was he seeing Leni's siblings everywhere he looked? He had seen every one of them, except for…

"Hello, Sammy." A voice purred venomously into his ear. He jumped up, seeing Lori standing behind him, glaring at him as usual.

"Uh…hey, Lori," Sammy nervously said, taking a step back, "What's up?"

"Not much," she said, casually shrugging, "Though I, uh, I heard quite a bit went on during your movie night, last night."

"Oh, that?" Sammy chuckled nervously, knowing that Lori was even more protective of Leni than he was, "No, that was just a misunderstanding. Nothing happened."

"Really, Mr. comfy pillow?" came a voice from behind him. He jumped and turned around, now seeing the rest of Leni's siblings behind her. Lola had been the one who spoke, and the majority of them were smirking at him.

"Oh…um…we did fall asleep on the couch, but for the most part we just watched a movie," Sammy admitted. He was nervous, remembering how the sisters had wanted to tear Adam limb from limb upon hearing what he had done to Leni. Did Mr. Loud tell them that he was apparently trying to take advantage of the ditzy blonde? It wasn't true, but an overprotective father could believe anything.

"Sammy," Lori wrapped an arm around her sister's best friend's shoulder and leaned in so that she was staring him right in the eyes, "We're gonna ask you one question. Just one. And you are going to be honest with us, got it?"

"O…ok," Sammy gulped nervously. He noticed that the Loud family had moved closer together, blocking any efforts of an escape. He then noticed Lisa holding some sort of device up to him. He was about to ask what it was, but then saw, on a label on the side, "Lie Detector". Knowing Lisa, he was sure it was 100% functional.

They all looked at him with glares (even Lily) and Lori looked him straight in the eyes and asked, "Are you in love with our sister?"

Time froze. Sammy had never been the guy who made his intentions so clear to everyone around him. While he had tried to talk to Leni about his feelings for her, that had always been in private. And while he could occasionally feel awkward around her, he was sure that he didn't act like a love-struck goofball. However, he knew it was true, and after having to watch her get her heart broken, Sammy decided that enough was enough.

He took a deep breath and replied, "Yes, yes I am."

The sisters and Lincoln all looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces…that quickly became smiles as they all (even Lincoln) squealed with excitement, before crushing Sammy in a giant hug.

"Too tight," Sammy choked out. They released him, all smiling at him.

"So…" Luna said, "When are ya gonna tell her?"

Sammy instantly became nervous again as he stuttered out, "W…well, I…uh, I don't think it's really the right time, what with her just getting over what Adam did to her. Plus, I'm just so busy and-"

"No!" Lori grabbed him by the shoulders and glared at him right in the eyes, "You could have told her your feelings long before Adam asked her out, but you didn't. You are gonna march to our house and tell my sister how you feel about her, got it?!"

"Ok!" Sammy exclaimed, putting his hands up in front of him in defense, "B…but I want something in return!"

"What?" Lori shouted, "You're about to get a shot at the girl of your dreams! What else could you possibly want?"

Finally getting fed up, Sammy yelled out, "WHY DON'T YOU LIKE ME?"

The rest of the Louds stood silently, watching as Lori released Sammy's shoulders and her look of anger became a look of confusion, "What?"

"I'm not narcissistic, I honestly don't care what other people think of me," Sammy explained, taking a deep breath, "But your brother, your parents, and all your sisters like me, so I'm asking you, Lori, why don't you like me? What did I ever do to you to make you glare and scowl at me every time you see me?"

Lori looked to her siblings, but they were only giving her the same confused look. What Sammy said was true. They all liked him, and they had noticed that Lori did not. So of course they wanted answers, too.

Lori opened her mouth, but no words came out. In all honesty, she should have seen this coming, especially when they talked earlier today about confronting Sammy about his feelings for Leni. She knew there was no getting out of this, so she took a deep breath and mumbled, "Nennynednunererbezfred."

"What?" Sammy asked, confused.

"Nenny ned you ner er bes fred," Lori mumbled, a little clearer but still hard to make out.

"One more time?" Sammy asked, leaning in with his ear towards her to hear her better.

Lori took a deep breath before forcing out, "Leni said you were her best friend!"

"O…k…" Sammy said, confused. He didn't see what was wrong with that. After all, he had always been a good friend to Leni, at least to the best of his knowledge. In fact, he could only remember one time he and Leni had had an argument. It was over something stupid (so stupid he couldn't even remember it), and Leni left upset, yet they had made up the very next day.

Sighing, Lori continued, "I didn't like that you took my title."

Slowly processing what Lori said, Sammy's eyes went wide as he asked, "That's what made you upset? Lori, I'm her best friend. You're her BFF. And when it comes to friendships, being a BFF is way more important than being a best friend."

Lori looked at the ground, ashamed, as tears of guilt started to form, "You're just saying that."

"No I'm not," Sammy actually chuckled, "Lori, let me ask you, when you and Leni have a fight, who do you think she complains and sometimes cries to?"

Lori wiped her eyes and looked up at Sammy, who was offering her a small smile, "You?"

"Of course," Sammy said, "I've heard it all, from the time you spilled soda on her lucky jeans to the time she thought you would never forgive her after she borrowed your favorite blouse and ripped it. After all, most BFFs consider each other sisters, and you and your BFF actually **are** sisters. You know that's gotta mean something."

Sammy then reached forward, and pulled Lori into a hug, "Now, you better make yourself look good and not sad, cuz I imagine that tonight, you and your BFF will have a LOT to talk about."

With a new sense of confidence, Sammy marched straight to the Loud house, finally determined to make the girl of his dreams his girlfriend.

As the Loud siblings watch Sammy head to their house, they pulled each other around Lori for a group hug. As they were hugging, Lincoln piped up, "We forgot to tell him that Leni is grounded."

* * *

Leni was sitting in her room, bored out of her mind. Because she had missed curfew, worried her parents to death, and tried to have a "sleepover" with her male best friend, she had been grounded. Thankfully the grounding was only for today, but that didn't make it any easier. After all, this meant she wasn't allowed to use her sewing machine, read any fashion magazines, or do any type of activity that would be considered "fun".

As she lay on her bed, blankly staring at the ceiling, she wondered what all of her siblings were up to. The house was surprisingly quiet, meaning they were likely out.

*Tink* *Tink* *Tink*

Leni sat up, confused about the weird sounds she was hearing.

*Tink* *Tink* *Tink*

Turning towards her bedroom window, she noticed tiny pebbles being thrown at it. Looking out, she noticed Sammy, holding a handful of pebbles. She opened the window.

"Leni!" He called up, ecstatic to see her, "I need to talk to you about something important."

"I can't come out or talk today," she called back, "I got grounded for what happened last night."

Sammy sighed, "Look, this is really important, and I know that if I don't tell you now, I'll never be able to."

Leni bit her lip. She hardly ever got grounded, and on the rare occasion she did, she made sure to follow all the rules in order to not get more grounded. But Sammy was her best friend, and she could tell he REALLY needed to talk to her.

"Ok," she said, "Give me 5 minutes to sneak out." At that, she closed the window and walked to her bedroom door. She figured it wouldn't be too hard to sneak past her parents and out the backdoor. She just had to make sure she was quiet.

She took a deep breath, knowing she could do this. Just tiptoe down the hall, sneak down the stairs, and head through the kitchen to the back door.

"Easy peasy lemon squeezey," she muttered, as she opened her bedroom door…

…Only to come face to face with her father, holding Sammy by the collar of his shirt, dangling an inch off the ground.

"You father showed up right after you shut your window," Sammy admitted, slightly afraid.

"I heard everything," Mr. Loud said, finally releasing Sammy and pushing him forward, "So go ahead, tell my daughter this "really important" thing you have to tell her."

"Honey!" Mrs. Loud appeared by her husband, "We know these two. Obviously they wouldn't break the rules unless it was important."

"But that's just it!" Mr. Loud argued, "What about last night? They fell asleep together!"

"Yes, they _fell asleep_ together," Mrs. Loud stated, "They did not sleep together."

"Yes we did," Leni said, confused. Sammy's eyes went wide as he turned to see Mr. Loud's face turn red and eye twitching.

Before he could say or do anything, Mrs. Loud put a hand on his shoulder and sighed, "Leni, falling asleep together means you, well, fell asleep together. Sleeping together means…well, ya know, the Birds and the Bees."

"OOOOOOOOHHH!" Leni said, getting it, "Yeah, Dad, we did the first one. No making babies here."

Mr. Loud's face was still red, but he started taking a couple of breaths to calm himself down. After a minute, he said, "Ok, then, but that's still inappropriate. You're way past the age where it's ok to have co-ed…" He paused, seeing the look of confusion on his daughter's face, "Er…boy-girl sleepovers."

"But it wasn't a sleepover, sir," Sammy said, feeling somewhere between confident and nervous, "It was just supposed to be a movie night. We didn't mean to fall asleep."

"Well, I'm glad we did," Leni said happily, "Sleeping on you, being my comfy pillow, was the best sleep I've gotten since the whole Adam thing."

Sammy smiled, noticing that there was no change, sad or angry, in Leni's voice when she brought up Adam.

"Fine!" Mr. Loud exclaimed, "Look, young lady, you are grounded, so," he turned to Sammy, "Tell her what you have to say, and tell her **now**!"

Sammy looked between the three: his best friend giving him an encouraging smile, her mother giving him what looked like a knowing smirk, and her father, who looked somewhere between peeved and almost…glad?

Shaking his head, Sammy knew that the Loud parents wouldn't just leave, and it would be impossible to say what he needed to say in front of them, so he did the first thing that came to mind.

He grabbed Leni by her shoulders and pulled her in for a kiss.

Mr. Loud's eyes went wide, Mrs. Loud gained a great big smile, and Leni was surprised, though she slowly melted into the kiss. Sammy moved his arms around her waist, while she put her arms around his neck and hooked her hands together.

Mr. Loud was getting ready to break apart the two, though Mrs. Loud quickly grabbed him and pulled him downstairs, leaving the two alone.

After about half-a-minute, Sammy pulled away, somewhat in a daze. Leni smiled at him. God, he loved that sweet smile of hers!

"Leni," he said, after a moment of silence, "I've been in love with you for the longest time. I've just always been too nervous to do anything about it. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner, so that Adam couldn't have used you. But if you'd like, do you wanna-"

He was cut off as Leni pulled him in for another kiss. They stayed like that for about a minute, until…

"Alright, you've got one minute before I come up there and separate you two, myself!" Mr. Loud called up the stairs, "Don't forget that you're still grounded, young lady!"

Annoyed, the two pulled away yet again, as Leni smiled at Sammy and said, "Does that answer your question?"

"Um…yes," Sammy said, still in a daze, "So…another movie night this Saturday?"

"I'd love that," Leni smiled, giving him a peck on the cheek, "See you in school tomorrow, Honey."

"Yeah," Sammy's eyes went wide at Leni giving him a nickname, "See ya tomorrow…Babe."

At that, Sammy turned and headed downstairs, walking past Leni's parents as he did so. However, right as he placed his hand on the doorknob, Mr. Loud placed his hand on Sammy's shoulder.

"She got her heart broken once already," he said calmly, no emotion in his voice, "I expect you to treat her as you do now, like she's a very special human being with feelings and desires. A girl that deserves only the best."

Without turning around, Sammy responded, "I will, sir. She's the love of my life, and I intend to make sure she knows it."

Releasing his hand from Sammy's shoulder, Mr. Loud nodded, "Always knew you were a good kid."

With nothing else to say, Sammy simply nodded and headed out the door, heading back home to just relax, watch TV, and ponder over the mystery of how he had finally gotten the girl of his dreams.

* * *

That night, Leni and Lori sat in their room, on Leni's bed, giggling and eating ice cream in their pajamas.

"I just can't believe it," Leni chuckled, "All this time you've been JEALOUS of Sammy and my friendship?"

"I know," Lori blushed, "It's ridiculous, but I just didn't like you calling him your best friend. It made me feel like you had replaced me." At that, she looked down and sighed.

Leni reached over and pulled her sister in for a hug, "Lori, you know you'll always be my BFF, no matter what."

Lori smiled and returned the hug, "Thanks, Leni." As they pulled away and ate their ice cream (which Lori had sneaked upstairs, due to Leni's grounding), Lori smirked, "So, what are your and Sammy's plans for your first official date?"

Swallowing her bite of ice cream, Leni smiled, "Just a movie night, like last night."

"What?" Lori cried in shock, before grabbing her sister by the shoulders and pulling her close, "Leni, this is your first REAL date with a guy who really likes you. You can't just do a "movie night". It's not romantic enough."

"Well, it was kinda romantic when we fell asleep together," Leni said slyly, "And Sammy makes a real comfy pillow."

"That's fine," Lori said, "But you know you can't fall asleep, otherwise you'll be grounded again."

"Bah," Leni grumbled, taking another bite of her ice cream before asking, "So what do you think I should do?"

Lori thought for a moment, "Well…"

At that moment, the door to their room was thrown open.

"AHA!" Their father cried. However, he looked confused when he saw them with a couple of math books on the bed in between them.

"Geez, Dad!" Lori cried out, "Ever heard of knocking? We could have been changing in here!"

"Changing into what?" Leni asked, confused, "You mean like a butterfly? I would LOVE to change into a butterfly. They're so pretty."

Lori rolled her eyes at her sister and asked, "So…what do you want, Dad?"

"Well," Mr. Loud blushed uncomfortably at the thought of having walked in on his daughters in a state of undress, "I…uh…I wanted to make sure you two weren't having any fun. Ya know, cuz Leni's grounded."

Lori held up the Alegebra book she was going over, "I'm helping Leni study for her math test this week. Trust me, no fun going on here."

"Ok, then," Mr.. Loud said, nodding, "Sorry about, uh, ya know. I'll let you girls get back to it." At that, he closed the door shut and headed back downstairs.

After waiting a moment, the sisters smirked at each other and pulled their bowls of ice cream out from behind themselves, while tossing the math books aside.

"Good idea having the math books ready," Leni said, smirking.

"Well, you're grounded, so I figured we'd need a cover for our hanging out just in case Mom or Dad decided to check up on us," Lori shrugged, "Now, back to your date…"

* * *

Upon arriving at school the next day, Sammy's first instinct was to look for his girlfriend.

"My girlfriend," he chuckled to himself, "Never thought I'd actually get to call anyone, let alone Leni, that."

In all honesty, Sammy had, at first, thought Leni would stop hanging out with him when she became more popular, but she didn't. Instead, she made sure to always have time to hang out with him. There were, of course, some popular kids who voiced their opinions about his and Leni's friendship. He wondered what those kids would say now that the two were a couple.

As he thought over the possibilities of what the popular kids would say, he became nervous, and somewhat depressed. He was well aware that it wasn't "normal" for a girl like Leni to be friends with a guy like him, let alone be together with him.

But Leni was the nicest girl he knew, surely she wouldn't give into peer pressure. Would she?

"Hey, Sweetie," a calm voice said, as a hand was interlocked with his. He turned to his left and saw Leni standing there, smiling that adorable smile at him. However, her smile faded as she saw the frown on his face, "What's wrong?"

"Oh, uh, nothing, Babe," Sammy lied, forcing a smile on his face.

"Sammy," Leni frowned, "I know you, and I can tell something is bothering you. Please, tell me what it is."

Sammy bit his lip, before sighing, "You're really popular, I'm a geek. We're not really a normal high school couple. I'm just worried people will think that you shouldn't be wasting your time with a guy like-"

Sammy was cut off, as Leni pulled him in for a kiss. After a moment, they parted, and Leni smiled at him, "Sammy, I just got used by some jerk to make another girl jealous. After that, I think it's safe to say that I don't care what other people think of me. Maybe it's not normal for people like us to be together, but I don't care. You're my best friend, and I know you'll be a great boyfriend. Don't you dare let anyone tell you different. Now come on, we gotta get to class."

At that, Leni headed into the school, while Sammy watched her in surprise. However, after a moment, he got pulled along with her, forgetting that she was holding his hand. He quickly moved forward to catch up with her.

As they entered the school, most people stopped what they were doing when they saw the two holding hands. However, the majority of them immediately went back to what they had been doing and for the most part ignored the duo. A few people appeared to be somewhat shocked, yet they did nothing other than stare.

When they got to their lockers (which were organized alphabetically by last name, meaning there were only two lockers in between them), they put up their bags and got their books and supplies, before heading to homeroom. When they got to the door, Leni quickly kissed Sammy again, before heading to her seat. Sammy paused, surprised about what had just happened, before smiling as he made his way to his seat.

"I could get used to this," he muttered.

* * *

The rest of the week was pretty much the same, with Sammy and Leni holding hands while walking through the halls, and giving small pecks on the cheek when they could.

Some people noticed them, but most ignored them (Sammy could have sworn at one point he saw a couple teachers looking at them, while one was smiling and the other had a sour look on her face as she passed the other one a $20 bill, but he ignored it).

Finally, Saturday night arrived, and Sammy was glad the wait was finally over. He picked out the movie (Leni insisted he pick, since she had picked last time), one of his favorites, the first _Jurassic Park_. It was their first official date, so he thought the movie they were watching should be a good one.

*ding-dong*

Sammy headed to the front door and opened it, revealing Leni, smiling. Again, she was wearing his father's leather jacket, which Sammy thought looked really good on her. To his delight, he noticed she also had a…

"Is that a plum pie?" he asked, pointing to the baked good in her hands.

"Uh huh," Leni smiled, stepping inside, pecking her boyfriend on the cheek as she did so, "I know it's your favorite." Lori had suggested doing something more romantic for their first official date, so Leni had had Luan help her bake Sammy's favorite treat.

Sammy smiled as he closed the door and headed into the kitchen. He got plates, forks, a pie cutter, and a couple glasses of milk, which he brought into the living room. After dishing up the pie and putting the movie in, Sammy sat down on the couch to relax.

However, as he reached for his piece of pie, he was gently yet forcefully pushed over, until he was lying on his back. Leni then laid on top of him, trying to get comfortable.

After a moment, she sighed and looked him right in the eyes, "Sweetie, I'm not gonna get comfortable if you're tense. Relax. I want my favorite pillow."

Sammy blushed at this, but slowly let himself calm down. Smiling, Leni snuggled up to him, and he wrapped one arm around her.

A few minutes into the movie, Sammy reached over and grabbed his plate, taking a bite out of his pie. "Whoa, this is delicious," he said, as he took another bite.

"Thanks," Leni smiled, "Luan helped me." At that, the two watched the movie some more. After about five minute, Leni spoke up, "I was thinking of you when I made that pie for Adam. I just remembered that plum pie is your favorite, and I guess I thought that Adam might like it, too." At this, she let out a sad sigh.

"It still hurts, doesn't it?" Sammy asked, rubbing his girlfriend's back.

"Yeah," she sighed, before brightening up, "But at least now I have a real boyfriend who actually cares about me." Based on the way they were laying, she brushed the top of her head against his chin, tickling it. "Ya know, it's kind of a shame that Adam and Rebecca are gone."

"Why?" Sammy asked, confused. As far as he knew, they had gotten their just desserts. By now, Rebecca had probably frozen her hair off, and he could only imagine how many times Adam had had to go to the hospital.

"Because Adam was popular, and you're a geek," Leni said, smiling a devious smile, "Imagine how lame it would look for his "ex-girlfriend" to have dumped him for you."

Sammy smiled back, briefly wondering if Leni actually was as dumb as she let on, or if it was all an act, "That would be pretty funny. But hey, at least they got what was coming to them."

"Yeah," Leni said, laying her head back down on Sammy's chest, "By the way, Lori was wondering, double date with her and Bobby this Friday?"

"Sure," Sammy said. He and Lori were now on good terms, and while he and Bobby weren't really friends, he didn't really have any type of problem with the older boy.

Remembering what happened last Saturday, Sammy set his phone alarm for 10:45, which would wake them up if they fell asleep, and give him plenty of time to walk Leni home.

As they cuddled together and watched the movie, Sammy just couldn't believe it. He finally had the girl of his dreams.

* * *

 **So there you have it. Again, full credit for the idea goes to** **JFMstudios** **. Also gotta admit this is a LOT longer than I intended it to be.**

 **For Sammy, I honestly just asked myself, "What would I do if someone did that to someone I care about?" Thus, I put myself in the story. For his last name, I just needed it to be close to Loud so they would sit together.**

 **I thought the two of them falling asleep together would be cute, so I had to put it in there.**

 **As for Lori, I wondered about how close she and Lori were. She hasn't been seen hanging out with any other friends, and she and Leni appear to be close. So I thought it would be funny if Lori got jealous over Leni calling someone else her best friend.**

 **For the part towards the end at school, I realized that I needed to have Sammy's nerves about asking Leni out go somewhere. It makes sense that he would probably think that the kids at school wouldn't be too fond of his and Leni's relationship. I could just see Leni comforting and reassuring him. I tried to focus more on her sweet personality, rather than her dimwittedness; as such, she may have sounded a little less dim than usual.**

 **Anyway, R &R.**


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